Effective handicraft templates that are easy to make, even for 2nd graders, are hard to find. For this reason, Pelikan Teachers’ Info is happy to provide you with offers of the like on a regular base. In this issue, you will find a weight lifter. The idea of it is to give your students the chance to deal with simple mechanical elements in a playful way.

Weight Lifter

Effective handicraft templates that are easy to make, even for 2nd graders, are hard to find. For this reason, Pelikan Teachers’ Info is happy to provide you with offers of the like on a regular base. In this issue, you will find a weight lifter. The idea of it is to give your students the chance to deal with simple mechanical elements in a playful way.

This is what you need:

Pelikan download templates, strong colored paper in white for printing out the emplate, Colorella duo markers in different colors, a pair of scissors and glue.

It’s as easy as this:First print out all download templates on the sheet of strong white colored paper. Make a cut into the two shoulders (the dotted line along the shoulder blades, see red arrows).

Color the template with markers – let yourself be „inspired“ by the weight lifter!

Before putting the parts together, glue the gluing flaps of the two arms onto the gluing flaps of the slider (see image).

Then, from the back, stick the arms of the slider through the two cuts made along the shoulders of the previously colored weightlifter. Be careful to not bend the paper strips (arms). It will obstruct the mechanism later on! The arms have to be pushed through all the way. The slider should lie tightly on the backside of the weightlifter.

Glue this safety strip over the slider on the backside of the weightlifter to affix the slider. The top edge should be as flush as possible with the cuts made for the shoulders.

Now glue the weight bar centrally arranged onto the two arms at the height of the hands. Finally, fold the hands over the weight bar as a support. (see image).

This is how the weight lifter works: Push the slider (yellow) upwards and the man will lift his weight. If you then carefully pull the slider, the weightlifter will let his weight bar down! This mechanism can be repeated any number of times.